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The West Virginia Department of Agriculture (WVDA) will hold a public meeting on a proposal to treat 55,645 acres in Logan and Boone Counties for a low-level gypsy moth infestation at the Danville Community Center December 1, 2009, from 7-9 p.m. WVU Extension Agent for Boone County Robin Bailey will conduct the meeting.
The areas proposed for treatment include 2,403 acres near Madison, 426 acres near Sylvester and 35,383 acres in the Western portions of both Logan and Boone Counties. The 35,383-acre area is part of an 80,255-acre treatment that includes Wyoming and Raleigh Counties.
West Virginia Commissioner of Agriculture Gus R. Douglass said property will be treated at no cost to the landowners under the Gypsy Moth Slow the Spread (STS) Program. The project is expected to begin around June 20, 2010, and should be completed within seven days, depending on weather conditions.
The proposed treatment will consist of mating disruption products applied by aircraft. The products mimic female gypsy moth pheromones, making it difficult for males to locate female moths to mate with. The products are specific to gypsy moths, affect no other insects and are not harmful to humans or other animals.
“The STS Program began in 1993 as a pilot project. Since then, we have demonstrated this as an efficient, low-cost method for slowing the rate of population spread by the gypsy moth,” said Commissioner Douglass.
This project is a cooperative effort with the WVDA, USDA-FS, WVU Extension Service and landowners to protect the state’s forest resources.
For more information on the Gypsy Moth STS Treatment Program, contact S. Clark Haynes, Assistant Director of WVDA’s Plant Industries Division, or Timothy L. Brown, Regional Supervisor in Charleston, at 304-558-2212.
The West Virginia Department of Agriculture protects plant, animal and human health through a variety of scientific, regulatory and consumer protection programs, as mandated by state law. The Commissioner of Agriculture is one of six statewide elected officials in West Virginia. Currently, Commissioner Gus R. Douglass is the longest-serving agriculture commissioner in the nation. For more information, visit www.wvagriculture.org.
“The Basis of All Wealth is Agriculture.”
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